Carefree Truth
Issue #675, July 26, 2018
Issue #675, July 26, 2018
(This is the final part of the July 9th water meeting report. The answers were given by Mayor Les Peterson unless otherwise specified.)
Q: What is the date for the completion of the engineering study?
A: It will be finished by the end of this year.
Q: But this does not include Neighborhoods B&C, correct?
A: It started out with Neighborhood A, but B&C have since been rolled in with no delay in the timing.
Q: How long before the switch occurs?
A: Approximately 2 years.
Q: Would Cave Creek delay this with lawsuits?
A: The Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) is ironclad. It goes to arbitration. That's it.
Q: How much will it cost each homeowner to make the change?
A: That is still unknown.
Q: Why should it cost anything?
A: Tony Geiger- "Who's going to pay?"
Q: You said the purchase of the Carefree Water Company (CFW) was financed through bonds and loans.
A: Tony G.- Utilities are financed through the rates. Part of the engineering study is the financial study. The current base rate of CFW is $43. The current base rate of the Cave Creek Water Company (CCW) is $59. Carefree will be bringing those accounts in, but the rate has not yet been determined. Q: Will there be a special assessment for the privilege of joining CFW that the rest of the CFW users won't have?
A: That has never come up for discussion.
Q: Can Carefree float municipal bonds?
A: It is difficult because Carefree has a variable revenue source. Sales taxes go up and down. Utility bonds can be readily financed because they have a steady source of revenue directly associated with them.
Q: How soon before the CCW customers can be rolled in to CFW?
A: Approximately 2 to 2-1/2 years from where we stand today.
Q: What will Carefree do for the 526 homes? Put them on it's water line, pay Cave Creek for the water, or concede the 526 homes?
A: They will be brought into the CFW system, along with their water, which comes with the homes. The water belongs to those customers, not to CCW. Carefree is not prepared to "concede" 526 homes.
Q: Will Carefree and Cave Creek become fully joined cities/townships, alienated and helped financially?
A: No.
Q: The current quality of Carefree's potable water is poor. There is excessive pollution, arsenic and salt.
A: "You say that, but we test the water. This gentleman has come to a Carefree Council meeting and asked to meet with the CFW director." "CFW does various extensive testing."
A: Tony G.- CCW has a ferric problem. They dose with ferric to coagulate solids. They have the wrong size pumps and are pumping too much ferric in there. When they were dumping the 120 million gallons into Rancho Manana, the ponds were all rust colored. Carefree buys some of it's finished water from Cave Creek. Carefree doesn't have a treatment plant so gets potable water from Scottsdale and Cave Creek, which do have treatment plants, and the water is delivered by CFW. CFW has filters on the connections between Carefree and Cave Creek. The filters are black within a week. "It's not a health hazard, but it's nasty."
Q: There is a 100 year water supply requirement in order to build. Is this still true?
A: Correct.
Q: Will this affect the ability to keep doing that? Putting 526 houses on CFW?
A: No. They bring their water with them.
Q: Is it wet or dry water?
A: Wet water.
Q: Is it wet because it is there, because they are getting Cave Creek water?
A: Tony G.- They will get it from Scottsdale instead of from Cave Creek. Carefree doesn't have a water treatment plant. The CAP water allocation of the 526 homes will be transferred to Scottsdale, which will convert it into drinkable water. It will be delivered to the Carefree residents by CFW. A: Mayor Peterson- 80% of the CAP water we get now is from Scottsdale.
Q: "Now I understand. Thank you."
Q: Looking at the map, she couldn't tell if her property is included. Her next door neighbor is on CFW, so she is right on the cusp.
A: Tony G.- If you are a Carefree resident who is on CCW, you're included.
Q: Councilman Mike Farrar asked how this impacts the 23 acres on the corner. Sprouts was looking at it. This is a massive retail opportunity. Who knows, 2 years out? Cave Creek can always fight this. What jeopardy does this place on that development? Have other solutions been looked at, like the Scottsdale hook-up on 56th St.? Cave Creek has its own water treatment plant. Why couldn't they hook up with Scottsdale just to service that corner?
A: Tony G.- "Why would we just service that corner?"
Q: Mike F.- We're talking 2-3 years out. It's jeopardizing that Sprouts development.
A: Mayor Peterson- The developer applied for a Will Serve letter last September and Cave Creek has not responded.
Q: Mike F.- He was familiar with that. What has Carefree heard from the developer of that corner, given that we are at least 2-3 years out?
A: Gary Neiss- There have been ongoing conversations with that developer. He's well aware of the issues with Cave Creek and the options with Carefree, and is looking at doing the interconnect onto Scottsdale. Conversations have taken place with Scottsdale, and the 2 towns are working on amending their agreement.
Q: Mike F.- But that's once it gets into the Carefree service area. It is in the Cave Creek service area now.
A: Gary N.- Yes, it is in there but they have refused to issue a Will Serve. As a result of their refusal to service it, because it is in Carefree's jurisdiction, and there is no infrastructure there, they can hook into Scottsdale through a pipe to their 23 acres and become a member of CFW without going to Cave Creek. Because there is no infrastructure there associated with Cave Creek, there is nothing there to condemn, nothing to take over. It is not part of their service area if they are not willing to issue a Will Serve letter. The developer provided everything to Cave Creek, including a Water Master Plan which they spent $20,000 to $30,000 to produce. Cave Creek just put it in a stack and never even looked at it.
Q: Mike F. -"I understand."
A: Tony G., addressing the gentleman from Cave Creek who accompanied Mike Farrar- "We have a legal agreement that specifically spells out that this parcel will be served, and they just flat out denied it. Like it didn't even exist.
Q: Cave Creeker- "Look at Section 4. It says that you have to adhere to the same conditions as anyone else in this entire thing, and it's within the Letter of Necessity which is required as a service area." He stated that he had read the document. If a development comes in within the Cave Creek service area, they have to provide their own water.
A: Tony G.- "That's not right." Tony sat with the attorneys who wrote that. "That is for residential, not for commercial."
Q: Cave Creeker- That makes no distinction.
A. Tony G.- "It does make a distinction."
A: Mayor Peterson- "You guys are talking about something else. We have met with the Cave Creek Mayor and Vice Mayor and explained what we were thinking of on the 23 acres. And they said fine. They have no problem."
Q: Cave Creeker- He came to encourage that all get along. A: "We've been trying. Thank you."
The Mayor directed attention to an audience member in the back of the room.
Q: He commended the Town for taking on about 20-25% of the rest of Carefree.
A: They are part of Carefree.
Q: He is from "the great state of California" where 66% of the water flows out into the ocean, part of a fanatical desire to preserve a 2" fish. He can talk about the crazy politics in California. He's been through water rationing, bricks in the toilets, dead lawns, and not enough drinking water. Starting in the early '70s, they went through real droughts, and he's seen this drought. He has seen a state that has basically the same water infrastructure that it had when he graduated from high school because of no planning, no thinking, no looking ahead, that's been grabbing water from everybody else for 150 years. "So the fact that you're thinking about that, you're looking forward, bravo!"
A: "Thank you all. We are in this together. Let's see it through. This is something that's important enough to all of us that we need to figure it out. Thank you."
https://vimeo.com/279782056
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
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